Page 197 of Crazy for this Girl

My eyes bulge from my damn head because this always taking care of me crap he does with me makes me want to throat punch him. “Are you out of your freaking mind?”

“Sometimes,” he replies calmly. “I’m not repeating myself with you. I told you already, I would do anything for you, Laynee. It’s as simple as that. Get it through your head.”

I point in the direction of the door. “I thought he was liable for paying that off. Why didn’t you let him—”

“I handled it.”

“Yeah,” I tsk. “You handled it alright. Just like how I know you don’t live here. You live in California. So what happens when this location brings back in sales, and doesn’t need help anymore? Are you moving back to—”

“I’m staying with you.”

“You can’t do that.”

“I can do whatever I want,” he bellows out, and I hope his doors are soundproof because if not, everyone outside of it is going to get an earful. They’re also going to know that Cal and I are…we just are. “I have no parents to dictate my life anymore. I can come and go as I please. And what I please is having you at every second, of every fucking day.”

“Whatever.” I stride to leave the room when Cal’s voice cuts through my spine with vengeance.

“Walk out that door and you won’t be walking for a week.”

I hold up my middle finger in response because I’ve had enough of men today. “I’m not feeling well. I’m calling off the rest of the day.”

It seems to be a repeated record—Laynee gets pissed at me, requires some space, and I’m the impatient prick that needs to wait to give her the time to cool off.

I’ve said it a million times before, and I’ll say it one more time for whoever’s reading this; I would do anything for Laynee Peabody Reese. So, if she requires a full twenty-four hours to swallow a ginormous chill pill, which leads to us working back to each other—fine.

However, I’m sitting at sixty hours of her flat out ignoring me and when she actually has someone from the coffee shop deliver my morning coffee to me, I snap.

“If I ever see you in my office again,” I fume, watching the young man with a Grind House tee cowering back closer to my door. “I’m going to fucking kill you. Spread the word. Anyone who delivers coffee to me, moving forward, is going to have their head smashed in with the closest thing I can reach for.”

“Yes, sir.” He whips open the door, and promptly closes it, leaving me to brew in silent rage that Laynee’s back to being a fucking insufferable brat.

Instead of calling her into my office, I allow some of my petty to seep through and stride to hers. Marie calls out a good morning to which I, with no delay, ignore and shove open Laynee’s closed door as if it needs to be.

Then I slam the damn thing shut, not giving a shit if my employees outside start a ring of gossip. The blinds are open against the wall of windows so at least Laynee is safe with me not fucking her against her desk today.

“Gonna need a timeline on when you’re gonna be done,” I recite through my annoyance and try to steady myself against her ignoring me over her laptop. “I’m about done, Laynee, get over it.”

“How about you get over it?” she counters, still typing away on the keys of her laptop.

“Get over my assistant not meeting with me when we have a job to do? Did you forget your position here? Just because I want to fuck you all the time doesn’t mean it changed. Unless you want me to finally add being my girlfriend to it. Then I’d be more than happy to get with IT to have that adjusted and added to your signature line, Miss Reese.”

“Go take a hike, Mr. Harper. You’ll have those reports in about two minutes and you have a meeting at ten.”

I round her desk, and that’s when she moves, quickly pushing back on her chair and leaping from it. I can’t say I’ve ever seen her move so fast. “It sounds like I need to have one with you.”

“Mr. Harper, this is—”

“Call me Mr. Harper one more fucking time, and I’m going to make you scream bloody murder in this office. I’m sure the employees will be not-so-subtly checking your body to see if I thoroughly fucked or beat you.”

“Touch me, Harper, and I’ll kick you in the balls.”

I smile, stalking toward her like the sex-deprived individual I am. “I think it’s worth the risk.”

Laynee’s hand shoots out like it’s going to stop me. “You’re an idiot. And I need the amounts of how much money I owe you. I seriously can’t believe you took care of my things while still keeping a distance from me.”

“I wasn’t going to rush in and demand you date me, Laynee.”

“Like now?”

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